An afternoon...
by The French Padfoot
Summary: An idea I got from somewhere... very short, but sweet, I think...
1. An afternoon in the past...

"I don't want to impose on your kindness, Remus, but…"

"It's alright, Lily, I swear."

"Weren't Sirius off nobody-knows-where, I…"

"Really, I'm pleased to have some time with Harry. He's like my nephew, you know."

"Yes, but…"

Lily had a small guilty smile and shifted Harry in her arms.

"…but the damn kid can be rather… exasperating. Don't let him bite your head off."

"Hey, it's my son you're talking about," came James' voice from the entry hall. "But, yeah, I'm sure you will need all of your wonderful patience."

"Oh, come on, you two, he's just lovely. How could he wear me down ?"

As Remus was busy tickling Harry with a big smile, he missed the look his two friends exchanged. The baby had his very small hand around his finger and was giggling, trying to get at his hair with his other hand. Seconds later, the werewolf found himself with a very small boy on his hip, and Lily was travelling from room to room, explaining several things so Remus would know what to do.

When finally the door closed behind the Potters, they were almost running late. Remus, who had been holding Harry all the time, looked for a moment at the door. Harry was very interested in his hair, and he began to pull at it, softly at first, then very hard.

"Ouch ! Hey there, let my hair !"

But he was smiling so brightly, parting the soft, silky brown hair with two little fists, the older man couldn't help laughing. He kissed the baby's fine jet black hair, already messed up.

"How about we go in your room and play some before I give you your lunch, eh ?"

Harry didn't mind, apparently, as soon as he still had Remus' hair within reach. The young man was none too happy to put his precious burden, as he was beginning to ache in the arms, even with his werewolf's strength.

Still, whatever the toy he shook before the boy, Harry always returned to his Remus' hair, or Remus' hands, especially Remus' fingers.

"Uh. You won't let go of me, will you ?"

Young Mister Potter did let go of Remus Lupin, but only when he began to feel hungry, and the man was rather proud to give him his bottle, and all went well…

…

Until he was finished with the feeding.

"Now, you have to sleep… your mum told me so. Up to bed, young boy."

And Harry was tired, obviously, as he didn't stop rubbing his eyes. But as soon as he was in his cradle, and Remus left his room, he began crying and yelling so loud the werewolf was there almost instantly, stroking his cheek with a finger.

"Shhhhh ! Come on, you should sleep… do you want a toy ? Your stuffed winged horse ? There…"

He stopped crying, looking at his toy with his big green eyes and pouting.

Remus had often thought that, as a calm person, at least calmer than most people, he had a soothing effect on children and animals, and was rather pleased with himself seeing Harry calm down and settle to sleep.

The young wizard tried to get out silently, but he had just put a foot outside the room when Harry cried again, with a seemingly louder voice.

And again, Remus was there, shushing, trying to soothe the boy, until he was calm.

A third time, he stepped out of the bedroom, and all began again, but this time, Harry smiled when he saw the man, stretching out his arms. He picked up the baby and hold him on his hip for a little time.

Lily and James were back later than what was expected, and the home was silent. They took one look at each other and came in. No one was in the kitchen, no one in Harry's room. They found a rather sweet scene in the lounge : the couch was transformed into a large bed, and toys were flying in lazy circles above it. Lying on the bed was Remus, sleeping soundly with Harry curled beside him, sleeping too.

"Did I really bother you so much ?"

Remus could tell Harry was worried, but he didn't hurry too much to explain the entire truth.

"I thought so, at the time. I was a young man, you know. And then, I saw other children, other babies, and I realized you weren't so much a trouble after all."

Still, the sixteen-years-old wizard Harry Potter had become looked dubious and uncomfortable, and Lupin smirked. Maybe it had something to be with the baby he had in his arms, sound asleep for the moment.

"Do you still want to baby-sit my twins ?"

Harry's eyes were jumping from the sweet little girl in his arms to her brother in Remus' lap.

"Yeah, of course I do. Maybe… maybe I should get some help… Hermione, or Ron… he had a lot of brothers…"

"Wise idea. I'm a little biased, as they're my children, but… they're really worse than you were."

"Well… I will get Ron."

A/N : Thank you very much everyone for the reviews... As you can see, I did take follow your advice. (Merci beaucoup, Twinnie! J'ai ce pseudo pour une raison ) And as I was asked for it, there's a next chapter (and a last) coming soon.


	2. Music hath the charms to soothe the sava...

As soon as Remus and his wife left their house, Harry felt a wave of panic. Ron had told him he would come to help as soon as possible, but what was he supposed to do in the meantime? At least, the twins were still sleeping, well fed and all.

He bent over their little beds, smiling softly. True, he adored Remus' children. He had never thought he could even be fond of babies – those he had seen before were mostly Petunia's friend's, and were incredibly boring.

A soft moan shook him out of his thoughts. The little boy was stirring in his sleep, slowly waking up. He began to cry rather loudly without even opening his eyes, and Harry quickly picked him up.

"Shhhhh… you'll wake your sister up…"

But nothing could stop the two-months-old child now he was fully awake. He cried mightily, neither silenced nor even calmed down by Harry's words, rocking or shushing. It didn't take a minute from that for the little girl to join her brother, and Harry, his arms already full, found himself in a rather awkward position.

He finally decided to levitate the girl and, shifting the boy on his left arm, took his sister on the other. He was glad that, having finally passed his OWLs a year ago, he was allowed to use magic during the holiday, especially wandless magic. Yet, he was sure that should be the kind of situation classified as "real emergency", for which even underage wizards and witches would be able to use their magic.

Now he had the twins in his arms, he couldn't even begin to soothe their cries. He even flied some toys around with this wandless levitation he was proud of, but to no avail.

He then sang. It was Ginny who had discovered some months ago that he had a beautiful voice, but he had begged her to keep it quiet. He was sure Ron would make fun of him if he knew, or Fred and George, or others. So only Ginny knew about that. And the Lupin twins, then.

"Not that they will tell anyone", thought Harry.

And indeed, if they weren't about to yell it the day following at the wizarding world's face (he could already make out the headlines: "Harry Potter's voices" and the like), they seemed surprised, and shut up to listen to him, eyes wide open.

He had been singing for a pretty long time, smiling down at the babies when he heard a low chuckle behind him.

He spun around as quickly as he could without disturbing the twins. Ron was standing in the doorway, and with the light coming from behind him, Harry couldn't make out his expression, but he bit his lip. Very smart, indeed. He would be teased for days now.

"Apparently, I will not be so helpful," Ron said with a teasing smile. "You seem to be quite at ease and capable of handling this on your own."

"Shut up, you stupid brat and come take this one. They're already crying again."

"Why don't you sing?" asked Ron as he was taking the boy from Harry's arms. "They seemed to like it."

The young wizard looked at his friend suspiciously, but Ron had a serious expression.

"Yeah, yeah, right. Why don't you talk Quidditch with the boy, he was yawning during the song…"

"You're the Quidditch-talking guy! I'm not!"

"You are. I fly, that's all."

"And you sing. Come on, sing again, or we'll become deaf."

Hesitantly at first, then clearer, Harry took the song where he left it and, yet again, the babies stopped crying, listening to him, then, slowly, drifted to sleep, the boy clutching with one chubby fist at Ron's sweater, the girl eagerly sucking Harry's finger.

Half an hour later, the two boys sat beside the beds, talking quietly, the twins sound asleep in their beds.

"Well, I didn't know you had such a beautiful voice, but I'm grateful… hum… ready to sing again, Harry?"

"What? Oh, no! Not again!"

"Come on, aren't they lovely, listening to you?"

"Isn't it lunch time? They must be hungry..."

If their cries were any indication, they must be starving, in fact. Harry and Ron took them and went in the kitchen.

"Well, Remus said we were to give them... let's see, he wrote it down for me. There, take this bottle and open it"

"How?"

"Take the lid off"

"Let me remind you I have a very angry boy in my arms."

They soon discovered they should have let them in their beds while they prepared their bottles. Ron ended up with the twins crying in his arms while Harry was running from the sink to the fridge, from one side of the kitchen to another.

"You'd make a lovely housewife, Harry"

"Shut up. There. Give me the girl, and take this bottle"

"You're very fond of the girl, aren't you?

"I won't deny she has grown on me. Now, please, if you'll hurry?"

"It isn't that easy!" complained Ron.

It was an utter understatement. The boy was literally thrashing, giving Ron a really hard time. It was a lot of fumbling till they were each with a baby and a bottle in their hands. As soon as the twins began to eat, the crying stopped and the kitchen became strangely quiet. It was so quiet the young wizards could hear their breathing.

"Hermione can say whatever she pleases" sighed Ron, "but it will be awhile till she can persuade me to do _that_."

"Oh. Already thinking about babies? Is it that serious with you two?"

"Hey! I'm not thinking about babies! But yes, I truly love her."

Harry rolled his eyes and shifted slightly. "I wasn't asking for a declaration." Ron kicked him in the shins. "Ouch! Careful there, or you'll be very sorry."

"Is that a threat?"

"Definitely. If it wasn't for the twins, you'd be already down."

"You wish. Let's see. Tomorrow morning, with a broom, in the garden. In the meantime, you should prepare to sing again. They're nearly done."

It was yet some time till the twins were settled in their beds, fast asleep – or so hoped Ron and Harry. It wasn't too bad, as Harry's voice was beginning to crack when he sang, and was definitely hoarse when he hazarded a whisper. Ron's arms ached after all the rocking he had performed in such a short time.

They were seated on the floor, on each side of the bedroom's door, their backs against the wall, eyes closed, silent, until a soft wail came from the room.

"I can't believe it" moaned Ron as he got up and entered the room "I'm gonna kill them"

"Oh, come on" said the deep raucous sound that was Harry's voice with a hint of sarcasm "Aren't they lovely when I sing?"

"I'm afraid your voice won't do any good this time. They smell… well… it seems like a dozen Dungbombs from Fred and George's stock."

"Oh, no. Not _that_."

"Don't panic. I've read about a spell for that…"

"And you're not thinking seriously about babies, eh? Anyway… you're my hero."

"But it would help me to concentrate properly. You wouldn't want to straighten a mess, would you? Make them stop crying. Sing."

"Bugger"

Remus and Kyana came back giggling from the night they had spent together.

"Do you think Harry's gone mad by now?" asked Kyana with a guilty smile.

He smiled back at his wife.

"I was in fact hoping he and Ron would be able to handle the crying pretty well together…"

They found them in the lounge, silently playing chess. No sound came from the children's room.

"Hi, Ron. Harry. How was it?"

"Very calm, in fact," came Ron's happy answer. "How was your night?"

"Wonderful… wait. Calm? What do you mean?"

"Oh, when the twins were finally asleep for good and Harry finally lost his voice, I had the quieter night one can ever dream of."

Ron gained a light slap across the back of his head from Harry and a questioning look from the parents.

"He sang all day. The twins were a surprisingly quiet public, but they wouldn't let him stop."

Harry blushed as the Lupins were laughing, and simply shrugged. It hadn't been a bad day after all, and it was worth the trouble.

THE END

********

A/N: Ok, you asked for more, you have it! But that's all, OK? That's the end! Fini! Understood? Good!

Thanks everyone for advice, help, beta-reading (love you, Lunard, Fred et George) and reviews. Like them ! ^-^


End file.
